Monthly Archives: September 2014

As a freshman I had always heard of the Career Center and the “amazing opportunities” they offered, butI never took a trip down there. I had taken one of those career tests in high school and just assumed it would be the same deal in college.

Boy, was I wrong.

When I first sat down with Suzanne O’Connor in her office I immediately felt comfortable. Going in to the meeting I was intimidated and almost embarrassed that I had never visited and was already a junior. She reassured me it was okay and that I still have plenty of time to find out what I want to do. When she asked me what I wanted to do with my life I told her my routine response, “I think I want to go into publishing and editing, maybe magazines or something along those lines…” she smiled and said, “Well, what if you start that and you hate it?”

Silence.

Who says that? Who shuts someone down so easily like that?!

While my mind ran with a bunch of different comebacks she quickly brought my attention to her computer screen where Siena Career Saint was open.

Knowing the answer would be no, she didn’t even bother to ask if I had seen the site before. She showed me how easy it was to search for internships in the local area, and how to search for jobs through my major and minor. (If you search for Career Center in the search bar on Siena.edu then scroll down to find a list of hyperlinked words and click the one that says “CareerSaint” it will take you to the site where you put in your information and then search for jobs and internships!)

Then she walked me through the ‘Sokanu’ program (pronounced so-can-you) to find out my likes and dislikes. Taking the test now in my third year at Siena makes me wish I took it my first semester freshman year. Once you sign on, using your e-mail and 901, it takes you through numerous questionnaires about your strengths, weaknesses, and your interests. Then once you have completed the tests, go to the tab at the top of the page that says “You” and it shows you some career recommendations based on your likes and dislikes. Some will be a little out there, for example I got judge as one of mine, but others will be something to think about.

The way that Suzanne explained Sokanu to me was “its our way to help the students find out who they are.” I could tell she genuinely meant that by the way she said it. Taking these tests and signing up for CareerSaint are beneficial for you. The staff here at Siena makes these things for you.

Much like myself, it is stupid for anyone to disregard all of these opportunities while we have them at our fingertips. Here are some upcoming events by the Career Center:

October 3rd: during free period in L26 of the Library there Career center is hosting a free resume workshop (also every Tuesday at 4 and Friday at free period until the end of October)

On October 13th in L26 of the Library there is a meeting on how to use LinkedIn hosted by the Career Center.